One cricket nerd's means by which to vent his frustrations, at Surrey, England and cricket in general.

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Kevin O'Brien joins for crunch Hampshire tie

Surrey waved goodbye to Glenn Maxwell on Monday, and by today we're saying hello to another new face, this time Irish allrounder Kevin O'Brien who joins for the final three fixtures of the T20 group stage.

O'Brien is most famous for having hit a 50 ball century in the 2011 World Cup, the fastest in the tournament's history, but he's also got previous in the Twenty20 Cup. In 2011 he hit 119 from just 52 balls for Gloucestershire against Middlesex. He also has 44 wickets at 25 in this format for good measure. It would seem that with qualification for the latter stages still in the balance the management have opted for O'Brien's experience over the raw talent of, say, Tom Curran.

Who makes way for O'Brien is the only real question. I would guess he's most likely to come in for Maxwell as a straight swap, but its possible that we could opt for the extra batsman having only posted one big score this season. Facing a powerful Hampshire side, that might not be the worst idea. In that case, O'Brien may play ahead of de Bruyn with Solanki replacing Maxwell. The bowling attack is unlikely to change, though Jade Dernbach will be looking for more support than he got from his colleagues on Monday night.

Hampshire are really flying in the T20 this year having won every game where there's been a result, including a five wicket defeat of Surrey at the Rose Bowl. Michael Carberry has led the way hitting 194 runs at a strike rate of 150 in his five games, though the rest of their batting has been less impressive. Their bowling attack has shared the wickets liberally, Danny Briggs has six while Mascarenhas, Tanvir and Dawson have four apiece.

Surrey's run of four wins was ended by Essex on Monday, and we have slipped to fourth in the table but we have two games in hand over Middlesex who are just two points better off. As we play them and bottom of the table Kent next week, tomorrow's game is crucial in getting the upper hand in the race for qualification. Our batting has thus far failed to click. Davies and Roy have looked strong at times but both have just the one fifty, while the middle order power has failed to materialise. I hope Gary Wilson bats up the order and O'Brien has one of his good days, if that happens we'll give Hampshire a very tough game.

22 comments:

Josh - you could argue that Maxwell's absence means Surrey are at liberty to bring in another player, but halfway through the group stage and apparently only for 3 games this seems even more mercenary and short-sighted than the Mahmood signing. The youngsters might just scratch their heads and wonder if opportunities are ever going to come along. Indeed why not put Burns into the frame, Maxwell was hardly an all-rounder with his solitary overs? Surely it would be good for Burns development to play T20.

Of course I'll be shouting for the lads tomorrow but if we do lose I'll be wondering what if....and on the other hand if O'Brien does come off it wont give quite the same satisfaction as it might. Still that's just my opinion and many others will see it differently.

It is without question a more mercenary signing, but I think I'm just immune to it now. I suppose their reasoning is that with a lot riding on the game its too dangerous to chuck a youngster in and heap pressure on. Some logic in that I suppose but I agree with you, it'd be a lot more satisfying to win with a Surrey lad tonking the ball around. Ah well, we shall see!

Maxwell's absence may bring silence to the future still if we see kevin's potential it would be a dilemma scenario and also there may be a possibility for the nightmare things to happen yet and surely Obrein's presence may have a strong expectations one side..lets wait and watch for the thrilling things in upcoming matches of this series to experience the hot moments...___________________________________asian newspaper

Yes good bye to Glenn Maxwell and his team really played well but they were not good enough to finish it of with victory Kevin 'O' brien is a consistent player and many fans pick him most while playing Fantasy Cricket in online in order to raise their fantasy league points.

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Player of the month

Son of the late Zimbabwe all-rounder, Tom Curran may have only played a handful of fixtures for Surrey's age group and Second XI teams, but he's already very highly thought of.

Like his late father Kevin he's an all-rounder. During the pre-season tour of South Africa Curran scored well in the intra-squad match against some high class bowlers. He also bagged himself a five-for in a Second XI match last season against Kent, including the wicket of the highly rated all-rounder Matt Coles.

Like his fellow academy player Dominic Sibley, 2013 may be a year too early for progression to the senior squad. However his development should be watched closely as a hot prospect for the future.

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